


When the Wind Blows West

by milkhoneytoast



Category: Naruto
Genre: Gen, M/M, Pre-Series, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-05
Updated: 2017-09-05
Packaged: 2018-12-24 02:09:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,898
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12002730
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/milkhoneytoast/pseuds/milkhoneytoast
Summary: When young Umino Iruka's village is attacked, his parents and fellow villagers must head west toward Konoha.





	When the Wind Blows West

"How far the lonely traveler wanders,  
Off the beaten path from home.  
Past mountains and rivers,  
Steep valleys and deep caves.

He can never return back to open field,  
Where the sunflowers wait for the sun.  
A home that has become dust,  
As easily as the wind blows salt west..."

Iruka rubbed his eyes as he woke up from deep sleep. The wagon was bumping steadily down the road, with the early morning sun just beginning to peek through the curtains. He heard his father singing, voice rough and soft, up in the front of the wagon. There were a few other children still asleep in the back. Beside him was Emiko-chan, wrapped up in a patterned quilt on the wagon floor next to crates. Her mother went missing during the escape and her father was helping with navigation at the front of the trail. He didn't know the two other children that well, just enough to know that when his parents helped them climb aboard, they looked younger than him and Emiko-chan, were quiet, and alone. 

He snuck out to the front, gently jostling the balance of the wagon, to sit next to his father. 

"Ah, good morning, Iruka." His father said, sparing one hand from the reins to pat his head. His father looked tired, having led the ox wagon through the night. 

"Good morning," Iruka replied, taking in their new surroundings. There were forests on both sides of them, thick and green. The trees were high enough that Iruka had to strain his neck up to see where the trunks branched into two, but not high enough to block out the sun that dappled through the openings where the branches intertwined. Beside the wagon were men and women walking, carrying cloth packs on their back. There were other wagons on the road, for the older villagers and children. Iruka saw a grandmother, who used to give him tomatoes from her garden to take home, dozing in the wagon straight ahead.

"We're almost there," Iruka's father said, "Your mother is scouting ahead to let Konohagakure know we'll be arriving soon."

Konoha. That's where their new home will be. It was the village that featured in every bedtime story his mother told him. Every brave shinobi worth knowing was trained in Konoha and sent out to defend the Land of Fire. Before the attack, Iruka wished for more than anything to be sent to Konoha for his pre-genin training, to grow up and be the best protector of his village. But this wasn't how he ever wanted to be welcomed into Konoha.

Two weeks ago, Iruka had been woken up by his mother shaking his arm in the middle of the night. His mother signed with her hands what Iruka had been taught in the past year. Danger. Quiet. Follow. She then rolled out a scroll and looked at Iruka. They had been practicing this as well. Iruka nodded. His mother hugged him tightly before performing a series of quick seals and Iruka stepped onto the scroll to be stowed away. The next thing he knew, his mother and his father were in front of him, covered in dirt and cuts, their worried faces relaxing once Iruka coughed and said, "I'm okay okaa-san, otou-san."

"Ikkaku! Iruka!" 

He looked up to see his mother ahead in the trees, jumping with ease from branch to branch, until she was at the branch closest ahead. 

"Kohari!" His father greets back, "How did it go?"

"Konohagakure has sent a team of shinobi to greet us before the gates. I've told Tsuki-san about them, and we will be stopping soon."

Just before the wagon passed her branch, she flickered and was next to Iruka on the wagon bench in seconds, pinching his cheeks. "Okaa-san!!" His tried to fight against his mother's hands, but his efforts were futile. His mother laughed warmly and when she released him, his cheeks felt red and sore. 

"Would you like some breakfast, Iruka?" She asked. There were a few leaves in her hair and her uniform looked torn and worn down, different from the usual outfits of soft long skirts from before. Then his stomach growled.

"I suppose that answers it," His father replied, his eyes wrinkling into a smile.

His mother pulled out a bag of nuts and dried fruits from the pouch on her thigh, and the three ate peacefully as their wagon continued along the dusty path.

***

"Otou-san!"

Iruka startled awake at the shout. He must have fallen asleep again. There was a blanket draped over him, and the wagon was still. 

Emiko-chan was waving through the curtain. The other children are waking up as well.

Iruka joined Emiko-chan at the curtain and saw her father walking toward them. They were no longer on a path. The wagons had spread out across a grassy field and so had the men and women, all sitting down to rest and eat. Iruka spotted the grandmother from earlier on his left, climbing down the wagon with the help of another villager.

"Ah, Emiko," Tsuki-san said, a small, sad smile on his face. He then turned to Iruka's parents to bow. "Umino-san, thank you for protecting my daughter during the journey. I am grateful for your help."

"We were honored to do so, Tsuki-san," His father replied, and both his parents bowed in return.

"Otou-san! Are we here then?" Emiko-chan asked.

"Yes, we've finally arrived," Tsuki-san said, coming over to pick up Emiko-chan from the front and place her on his hip, "Hello Iruka-kun."

"Good morning, Tsuki-san," Iruka said out of politeness but his eyes quickly strayed from the village leader. There were some people coming toward them in uniforms like his parents' but in much better shape and with bright red whorls on their sleeves.

Tsuki-san noticed them too and nodded good-bye to Iruka and his parents. "We're to talk about absorbing our villagers into Konohagakure." Over Tsuki-san's shoulder, Emiko-chan waved good-bye to Iruka.

"See you, Iruka-kun!"

That left Iruka with the other children in the wagon, and when he looked back behind him, he saw Kosei-chan sniffling and Usagi-chan holding on tightly to his fingers.

"Please don't cry," Iruka said, giving them a smile and pulling out some dried fruit he saved from earlier, "We'll find your mother and father."

"Iruka," His mother called out, "Let's set up closer to the center and help them find their family from there."

"Okay!" Iruka replied back, looking back to his mother. Tsuki-san was talking with the uniformed shinobi farther away behind his mother. Iruka noticed the shortest shinobi of the group. He had spiky white hair and a mostly hidden face. He had his one eye turned toward them. The shinobi looked like he could be a few years older than Iruka himself. Konoha's training is so elite, Iruka thought, awed. I'll be just like him soon, able to protect my family and people like Tsuki-san and Emiko-chan.

The morning passed by quickly. They left their wagon at the edge, so that when they were in the center, other villagers could spot them clearly, as well as spot the other two children and their supplies. Back in their village, once a year, his mother unsealed scrolls of emergency supplies like medicinal herbs, dried foods, blankets and clothing until supplies spilled across their lawn. They gave away items others needed, re-stocked other items, and then his mother would seal them back up into the scrolls. Others in the village called his mother a strange shinobi, too paranoid that something would happen to their peaceful village. Something did happen, and Iruka was glad that his mother was the type of person to always be prepared. 

"Ikkaku!! Where did we put the second unit of food rations?" 

And if his mother was more the type to hoard supplies, then it was all the better that his father lived for a clean and organized home.

"In the last row of scrolls within the third crate, dear." 

Iruka was given the responsibility of watching over Kosei-chan and Usagi-chan, but he kept looking around for the group of shinobi from earlier. They had split up from talking with Tsuki-san and were in groups of two, making their rounds through the makeshift camp. He saw the white-haired shinobi earlier, walking with another taller shinobi past their wagon. They had stopped there for a while before moving on. Iruka hadn't seen the white-haired shinobi since then; only his partner was walking around.

In the late afternoon, a couple came to his parents and thanked them profusely for taking care of Kosei-chan and Usagi-chan. By that time, Iruka had showed them how to play village-nin versus missing-nin and he was almost sad to see them go before they had decided the victor. Most of the scrolls were unsealed now and supplies were dwindling down. His mother was smiling at each person that came by to pick up something, shaking their hand, and telling them to take care of themselves. His father was quieter but nonetheless helpful for each villager that came to them in need of something.

Iruka was practicing shoji against his father, when a shadow came across their board. He looked up to see the white-haired shinobi.

"It's you!" Iruka said, jumping up and smiling. The shinobi was taller, but not by much. Iruka's mother was walking over.

The shinobi glanced briefly at him and then looked to his father and then mother. "I am chuunin Hatake, shinobi-san. You will have to meet with T&I before we can clear your entrance into Konohagakure."

His voice was not what Iruka was expecting at all. He spoke without any feeling.

"How long will that take?" His father asked, looking at Iruka.

"One week."

"I will go first then, Kohari, while you watch Iruka."

"No," Hatake-san interrupted, "You must both go at the same time."

"What! What about our son?" His mother placed on a hand on his shoulder, "Why must we both go?"

Hatake-san shrugged. "Standard protocol for grouped shinobi. To better prevent escape and treason."

"How dare you say that!" Iruka burst out, "My parents are noble shinobi! For sure better than yo-" His mother quickly moved her hand to cover his mouth. Iruka struggled to remove her hand, all the while glaring at Hatake-bully-san. 

"Iruka! Show your respects." That make Iruka struggle more, giving out muffled shouts.

"He can stay with us, can't he, Kakashi-kun?" They were joined by another shinobi Iruka hadn't seen in the earlier group. He smiled at them. "It would be good for Kakashi to have someone near his age." 

"Hokage-sama -" 

"Hi," The shinobi bent down to Iruka's eye level. "I'm sorry, but we have to talk to your parents, so that we can keep safe the ones we love in our village, just as your parents have protected the ones you love in yours."

Even though it still wasn't okay, Iruka could understand that it must because his parents were so powerful, that these villagers were scared of them. "They'll beat any test you throw at them!" He said, getting his head cuffed by his mother in return.

"Ah, I hope so too. Kakashi-kun, please use your brotherly influence to help Iruka-kun get settled."

"Our deepest thanks, Hokage-sama." His parents bowed, and thus began Iruka's adventure in sharing a room with the worst babysitter in the Land of Fire.

**Author's Note:**

> Please forgive any errors! This is my first time posting fic in many years. This was written quickly and unbeta'd after consuming so much KakaIru my heart burst open and created words. Hope you enjoyed! :)


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